The present invention relates to devices for injecting, infusing, delivering, administering or dispensing substances, and to methods of making and using such devices. More particularly, it relates to a medical appliance or device, a system comprising a medical device or devices and data transmission, and a method of operating an energy-optimised data transmission from and/or to a medical appliance.
When a medical appliance (the term medical device may be used synonymously herein) is being operated, for example an infusion pump or a sensor attached to the skin of a user, it is advantageous for a user if data for operating the medical appliance can be transmitted to the medical appliance from a remote control, for example, or if sensor measurement data can be transmitted to an external device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,276 discloses an external infusion device which can be activated by a remote control. The infusion device has a receiver which may be in a so-called stand-by mode and can be automatically activated approximately every 2.5 seconds to ascertain whether a radio signal was emitted by the remote control, as a result of which the radio remote control is designed to emit an activation signal over a period of approximately 5 seconds, for example, so that it can be detected by the receiver.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,551,276 and 4,396,295 describes an implantable measuring appliance, which has a unit for dispensing a dose. An external control device can be coupled with this appliance to vary the infusion rate, for example.